Read and reflect on these Scriptures regarding friendship
Exodus 33:11 – Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
Deuteronomy 13:6-8 – “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him.
Job 2:11 – Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zopharthe Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
Psalm 25:14 – The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
Proverbs 1:10 – My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
Proverbs 3:27-30 – Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it” - when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you. Do not content with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.
Proverbs 6:19 – [The Lord hates] one who sows discord among brethren.
Proverbs 7:4 – Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend.
Proverbs 10:8 – The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Proverbs 10:11 – The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
Proverbs 10:21 – The lips of the righteous feed many.
Proverbs 11:10 – When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.
Proverbs 11:12 – Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.
Proverbs 11:13 – Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
Proverbs 11:14 – In an abundance of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 11:17 – The merciful man does good for his own soul.
Proverbs 11:25 – Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:27 – Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor.
Proverbs 12:26 – The righteous should choose his friends carefully.
Proverbs 13:15 – Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.
Proverbs 13:18 – Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored.
Proverbs 13:20 – Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 14:10 – The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.
Proverbs 15:1-2 – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools pour out folly.
Proverbs 15:15 – The cheerful of heart has a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:17 – Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.
Proverbs 15:23 – To man an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!
Proverbs 15:27 – He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house.
Proverbs 15:31 – The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
Proverbs 16:7 – When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:24 – Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
Proverbs 16:28 – A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9 – Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:17 – A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:27 – Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Proverbs 18:1 – Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Proverbs 18:2 – A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 20:3 – It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling.
Proverbs 22:9 – Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.
Proverbs 22:24-25 – Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
Proverbs 23:17-18 – Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 25:17 – Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
Proverbs 25:19 – Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.
Proverbs 27:5 – Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Proverbs 27:6 – Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Proverbs 27:9 – Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.
Proverbs 27:14 – Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.
Proverbs 27:17 – Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 – Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Matthew 7:12 – So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 11:19 – The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say. “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.
Mark 5:18-19 – As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
John 3:27-30 – John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 15:13-15 – Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Acts 2:42 – They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 20:35 – In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 – From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Ephesians 4:2 – Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Philippians 2:1-4 – So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Colossians 3:12-15 – Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 – In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Hebrews 10:24 – And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.
James 1:19 – Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
James 4:1 – Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
James 4:4 – You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
1 Peter 2:12 – Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
1 Peter 4:9-10 – Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 John 1:5-7 – This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 4:19 – We love because he first loved us.